Jurors heard graphic testimony and medical evidence about the alleged abuse, forced exercise and injuries that led to Danilo Coles’ death in 2022.
SAN ANTONIO — Bexar County jurors spent Thursday listening to graphic testimony involving the death of a 12-year-old boy three years ago.
And after about two hours of deliberations, those jurors convicted Derrick Coles on five of six counts of causing serious bodily injury to a child after he brought his injury-riddled son to University Hospital in 2022. The 35-year-old will be sentenced on Oct. 20 and faces up to 99 years in prison.
According to the latest testimony shared Thursday, Coles admitted that he had made his son, Danilo Coles, engage in about five continuous hours of forced, military-style exercises and often punished him for misbehavior.
Derrick Coles’ delayed trial got underway this week, with the 12-member jury beginning its deliberations just after 4 p.m. Thursday.
Earlier in the day, two medical experts testified that the boy was beaten, scalded with burning water and forced to exercise until he went into cardiac arrest and died. The jurors, along with two alternates, had the difficult job of seeing graphic photos taken when Danilo first arrived at the hospital.
Dr. Kevin King, the emergency room doctor who treated the boy on that day, also took the stand Thursday morning. In addition to a wide range of new and old injuries the doctor called significant, King said Derrick Coles admitted to the abuse. Initially, the father said the boy slipped and fell in the shower, according to police records.
“He was in full cardiac arrest,” King said. “He was not breathing spontaneously. He did not have any evidence of heart activity. They got his heart restarted on their way to the hospital, but when he came to us he was not responsive.”
The jurors also looked at graphic images of Danilo’s extensive injuries, including bruises caused by hard objects and cords, deep burns that appeared to have been caused by being doused with scalding-hot water, and marks to his wrists indicating he’d been bound.
King was followed to the stand by a medical examiner who said the boy died from toxins produced by too much exercise.
The boy’s stepmother, who has since divorced the defendant, is also awaiting trial in the case.